scenery stump

[nachoman]

My best suggestion is to start with the larger elements that you are sure you want to have, and then fill in with smaller elements.

For urban scenery, you will find that some buildings have limited options where they can go, either because they are large or need to be placed in a certain location in relation to the tracks. I suggest figuring out where these stations and large warehouses will fit first, and then fill in the smaller houses and stores. Cardboard mockups for buildings help to arrange things. Or, you may find that it is most helpful to first lay out the streets. Given the shape and size of most layouts, there are only a few ways the streets can be laid out as to make sense and look good. Once a street system is in place, the location of buildings becomes easier.

For natural scenery, the same principles apply. If you are going to have larger elements like mountains and rivers, locate those first. Obviously, they taller mountains need to be in the back, otherwise you can't see what's behind them . You will find that most layouts have few options of where to place mountains and rivers so they can fit and look realistic. I also suggest taking a hike or drive through the real world, and pay attention to things like the shape of mountains, how steep slopes are, the way engineers cut and fill topography in order to make roads and railroads, and the way streams branch and join together. I find observing the real world is more helpful than looking at a photo.

One big suggestion - I find that layouts look larger if "straight" elements are neither parallel nor perpendicular to the layout's edge. In other words, streets look better if they meet the front of the layout and the backdrop at an angle other than 90 degrees. This means some background buildings may be triangles in plan view, but a viewer at trackside would never know. The same holds for rivers - I would avoid making natural rivers perfectly straight, and avoid having them meet the backdrop and layout front at right angles.